Is it supposed to take 10 hours?

[Safari Tim]

Here is what I did with my Saturday....

[CaddyGrn]

Tim,

Looks like 10 hours worth of work to me! Did you get in any nap time? My hubby tries to sneak in a little inbetween his project time.

Mrs. NorCal Bambi (traveling in S Tardis)

[MarkR]

Tim,
Wow, I have those exact two things to do to our 1960 Tradewind. My step is busted on one side, needs to be welded/repaired and the floor at the door has dryrot at both jambs . . . AND the back end of my floor is bad at both main frame rails (where it connects to the bumper), it's bad about 6" into the trailer and about 12" wide. Is your repair area is in the back as well? I'm really kind of bummed that I have to remove the inner skin in the back to get the floor out . . . and it will take me a lot longer than 10 hours to get it all done. Any pointers or hazards to watch out for?

What kind of floor are you going to put down? Will you be putting it directly over the plywood? I have been chipping away at 2 layers of 9" Asbestos Tiles. I think I'm going to leave the bottom layer in some areas and somehow float the areas that are down to the plywood. I'm wondering if I should put a thin "underlayment" down? We want to use Marmoleum, even have a color picked out - at $4/sq.ft. it seems pretty expensive.
MarkR

[Safari Tim]

I had to have the step outriggers welded too. The forward one was very loose and even started tearing the belly wrap skin.

The other floor repairs is in the rear. Sorry the picture was not clear. Here is a photo of the area before I started. I also had to have the main frame rail replaced on the last two feet out to the bumper because it was rusted through.

No real pointers. Just work slow and label everything. All my trim pieces have writting on the back of where it came from. All screws go into labeled bags as well. Also when you remove the old floor try and do it in as big sections as possible and save them. You will use them as a template for your new peice.

I ended up cutting my replacement in the rear into three sections, with the center being about 6" or so. This let me fit the wood under the c channel and get it all placed. Then I screwed a backer board from under the trailer and then put the final peice in. If you look close you can see that splice in the picture.

I'm going with marmoleum too. But mine is Marmoleum Click. Its basically a floating floor with marmoleum layer on the top. I'm having the same problem as you as far as getting the original tiles out. Its tough stuff. I'm going to do the best I can and then try and level it with something. Need some input here. Then just lay the floating floor on top of that.

Just glad to get this part done!

Originally Posted by MarkR

Tim,
Wow, I have those exact two things to do to our 1960 Tradewind. My step is busted on one side, needs to be welded/repaired and the floor at the door has dryrot at both jambs . . . AND the back end of my floor is bad at both main frame rails (where it connects to the bumper), it's bad about 6" into the trailer and about 12" wide. Is your repair area is in the back as well? I'm really kind of bummed that I have to remove the inner skin in the back to get the floor out . . . and it will take me a lot longer than 10 hours to get it all done. Any pointers or hazards to watch out for?

What kind of floor are you going to put down? Will you be putting it directly over the plywood? I have been chipping away at 2 layers of 9" Asbestos Tiles. I think I'm going to leave the bottom layer in some areas and somehow float the areas that are down to the plywood. I'm wondering if I should put a thin "underlayment" down? We want to use Marmoleum, even have a color picked out - at $4/sq.ft. it seems pretty expensive.
MarkR

[scottanlily]

Hello Safari tim,

Those step repairs look familiar also ,My 60 di not have that front step
outrigger butted up to the frame ,originally it was close and not modified,so that inside area I put in the brace to add support and strength ,which it now has ,the rear outrigger i welded to the main frame as yours is now ,as the inside part was again not attached to the frame meaning the front half of the
outrigger square tube ,thats how it was and not broken either .Weird really.
looks good ,i did the door entry the same but the plywood went to the right
about 2 feet as water had gotten in from the jalousey windows and rotted
the floor .good job there ,had many saturdays just like that.

Scott

[NorCal Bambi]

Safari Tim, As soon as I get the frame out from under the shell, I will be doing the same repair on my 55 FC. Thanks for the pictures and information. I'll be waiting for your comments on the next Podcast.
Don

[muddy_hollow]

After reading this thread, I'm confused about how the shell is connected to the floor/frame with this type of repair. I listened to the VAP podcast last night on the construction of airstreams and I thought I heard the following:

1. Floor is connected to frame with elevator bolts
2. C Channel is connected to floor
3. Shell is connected to C channel.

With the method you are using, and I might be missing something, how is replacement floor and the C channel attached if you are not removing the inner skin? Also, how is the floor attached to the frame? Elevator bolts?

Thanks,

Doug

[MarkR]

it's connected just as you have it listed . . . and you do have to remove the inner skin to get to the c-channel.

[Safari Tim]

Thanks for the support Don!

I can only image how much work a shell off is. My hat's off to you .

If I don't get this thing campable by Spring, I'll have to answer to my 4 year old!

Originally Posted by NorCal Bambi

Safari Tim, As soon as I get the frame out from under the shell, I will be doing the same repair on my 55 FC. Thanks for the pictures and information. I'll be waiting for your comments on the next Podcast.
Don

[Safari Tim]

Doug,

Thanks for listening to theVAP.

It's hard to see in the photos but I do have both the belly pan removed and the walls loose on the rear of the trailer. I just have to pull them back to get access to the c channel to run my bolts through.

On the door entrance, I just did a patch from the top. Commonly called a California patch by adding the extra wood suppports to screw down to. Then I used screws into the step out riggers from the top as well.

Originally Posted by muddy_hollow

After reading this thread, I'm confused about how the shell is connected to the floor/frame with this type of repair. I listened to the VAP podcast last night on the construction of airstreams and I thought I heard the following:

1. Floor is connected to frame with elevator bolts
2. C Channel is connected to floor
3. Shell is connected to C channel.

With the method you are using, and I might be missing something, how is replacement floor and the C channel attached if you are not removing the inner skin? Also, how is the floor attached to the frame? Elevator bolts?

Thanks,

Doug